Switch



Jan. 12 192e. 1,569,416

A. H. BATES SWITCH v Filed August 5, 1922 2 Sheets-Sheff:l 2

I y mm,

Patented Jan. 12, 1926.

-UNITED ls'mJns PATENT OFFICE.

ALBERT H. BATES, OF ELGIN, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENT-TOTHE HOOVER COMPANY, OF NORTH CANTON, OHIO, A CORPORATION OF OHIO.

swrrcn.

' Application. sied August' s, 1922. serial No. svasoa 77o all whom tmay concern:

Be it known that I, ALBERT H. BATES, a citizen of the United States,residing at Elnois, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements inSwitches, of which the Y following is a specification.

This invention relates in general to im, provements in electric switchesand refers -in particular to a novel single push button type of switchin which the electrical circuit controlled by the switch is eitheropened or closed by the movement of a single push button, which actuatesasnap mechanism carryin the movable contacttelements of the switch'.After each movement of the push button, the contact elements of theswitch remain in the position to which they have been thrown and thepush button returns to the normal position for the next movement whichthrows the contact elements to another position. s My invention may beapplied generally to the light and power circuits commonly used for'thedistribution of electrical energy, and is especially adaptable for usein connection with machines or lapparatus in which the location of thevswitch is necessarily or preferably .such aste be inconvenientv tol beoperated by hand, but is adapted tobe oper# ated by foot pressure. Myinvention, however, is by no means limited to this type of machine orapparatus o r this mo'de of operation.

An object of -my invention is to provide a snap action switch which iscompact, rugged,

and simple in construction. t A

Another object of my invention is to provide a novel form ofsnap actionwhich possesses the quickness and reliability of action necessary tosafehandling of relatively heavy currents. l i

Another object of my invention is the provision of novel and reliablemeans for actuating the snap action.

C )ther objects will appear from the following detailed description andin the claimsl appended hereto.

In the accompanying drawings:

50. Figure 1 is a horizontal sectional view of elevation.

y lining a switch madJ in accordance with my invention, taken on line:1e-iv of Fig. 2 looking in U the direction of arrows. gin, in thecounty of Kane and State of Illi- Figure 2 is a vertical sectional Viewtaken on line y-g/ of Fig. 1v with parts shown in 55 Figure 3 is avertical sectional view taken on line z-z of Fig. 1 with parts shown inelevation.

Figure"4 is an vaxialsectional view with parts shown in elevationillustrating a modiiied forni of actuating mechanism.

Figure 5 is a sectional view taken on line u -w-of Fig. 4 with partsshown in elevation.

Figure 6 is 'a sectional view on line v-fv of Figure 1. t

Figure 7 is a detail View.

In Figures 1 to 3 inclusive I have illus-` trated a preferredembodimentof my invention, whichinay for ease of description be considered asconstituted of two elements; viz a snap action mechanism and anactuating mechanism which mutually coact and combine to form a switch.

Both the snap action and the actuating mechanism are supported upon avbase 10 made of any suitable non-conducting inaterial which also carriesthe electrical connections, :2metal cover 11 and an insulating 80' Thebase 10 is preferably made of a general cylindrical shape formed with acentral aperture. 13 which encloses and protects the snap action.

The base is further provided with two upstanding -post ortions 14, 14upon whichV the entire switc mechanism rests.

In the. modification illustrated in Figures 1 to 3 inclusive the snapaction is suspended 0 in the central a erture 13 of the base 10 by.meansf'f a U-s aped supporting frame 15 having outwardly bent endportions 16, 16 resting on the posts 14, 14 .provided with screwthreaded holes en aging the screws 17, 17 which passthroug the base 10and are received in nuts 18, 18^which also secure in place the anchoragemembers 19, 19.

The nuts and anchorage members are situated in cutaway portions 20, 2Oof the base 10 i and the anchorage members receive the screws 21, 21which hold the metal cover l0 and' the insulating lining in position.

The side portionsof the supporting frame below the end portion 16, flareoutwardly as shown at 22, 22 for a'purpose that will be is a short shaft24 on which are pivotally mounted the cams 25, 25 which in thismodlcation are connected on one side by an integral `portion 26 in orderto stien and maintain the cams in roper registry.

Each cam is formedj with a wedge shaped upper end having side faces 27,27 which meet at the point 28 and terminate at the other ends in theshoulders 29, 29.

Beneath the shaft 24 each cam is rovided with an arcuate slot 30 througwhich passes a pin 31 mounted in the side portions of the frame 15 andupon which is pivotally mounted the U-shape pole piece 32. The side.arms of the pole iece swing outside of the cams 25, 25 and have theirrange of movement limited by the'sto s 23, 23. The bottom of theU-shaped po e piece is perforated at 33 and is further provided with anlextension having formed thereon lugs 34, 34 which clamp and secure astrip of insula-4 tion 35vto which the resilient movable contacts 36, 36are secured by means of a rivet 37. By this construction the mechanismof the switch is insulated from the electrical currents and the maximumprotection is given the operator. i

The cams 25, 25 are each provided with an aperture 38 which registerwit-h each other and pivotally receive the integral lugs 39, 39 formedon the head 40 on one end y of the guide member 41 (Fig. 7), the lowerend of which extends through thel perfora-l tion 33 in the bottom of thepole piece. .Around the ide member, between the head 40 and .the bottomof the pole piece is a coiled compression spring 42.

From the drawings and the description it will be-seen that when thecams25, 25 are rotated on the shaft 24 so that the points 28, 28 cross avertical plane through the shaft 2A, the vSpring 42 1s compressed andwhen the pivot lugs 39 cross the line connecty ing the aperture 33 andthe shaft 24, thepole piece32 is thrown to the other side of the switchwith a quick snap action. A rel verse rotation of the cams causes the`pole ypiece to be thrown with a snap action in the opposite-direction.

In order to rovide a simple and lefficient means for giving the`required motions to the cams 25, 25 `Ihave provided an actuat" ingmechanism comprising a centrally apertured su porting rin 43 formedwithan up' turned ange 44 and aterally extending ears 44. .A guide tube 45is provided at the lower end with laterally extending ears 46,

16,16 of the frame 15 will secure the snapaction mechanism and theactuating mechanism together so that they -form an assembly that can beremoved from the base 10 as a unit. This construction facilitatesassembling of the switch as well as inspection at any time. I

On dialnetrically opposite sides the uide tube is provided with slots47, 47 whic receive and guide lugs 48, 48.formed integrally withthecylindrical plunger 49 which is closed at one end and forms the pushbutton of the switch.

Resting upon the ring 43 and centered by the upturncd flange 44 is ahelical com ression spring 50 which extends to the c osed top of theplunger 49 where it is bent radially inward as at 51 and then downwardlycoaxially with the plunger as at 52 to a point approximately level withthe supporting ring 43. At. this oint the sprin wire is bent at rightang es at 53 and t en back on itself to form a terminal'54 which isparallel to the shaft 24 and long enough to bridge across the cams 25,25. Due to t e resiliency of the spring wire, the portion 52 tendsalways to remain coaxial with the .similar in shape to the ears 44',rests upon plunger 49 and automatically returns to this position afterveach .actuation of the switch when the plunger is allowed to assume itsnormal position under the influence of the spring50.

To coact with the movable. contacts 36,

36 Ivhave provided the fixed contacts 55, 55

-end with a portion 59 of reduced diameter which guides the plunger-60and limits its upward travel by engaging with -the enlar ed lower end61.

he lower end of the guide tube is provided at diametrically oppositepoints with laterally extending ears 62, 62 each having an aperturetherein. j

The guide tube 58 is secured on the supporting ring 63 by means of bolts64 and nuts 65. The bolts 64 passingthrough the ears 62, 62 and throughsimilar ears formed on the supporting ring.

The centrally apertured supporting ring 63 is i also provided withlaterall exupturned ange 68 which centers a helical compression spring69 one end of which bears against lthe ring 63 and the otheragainst theshoulder 61 ofthe lunger 60.

In the upper closed end oi) the lunger 60, a securing member 70 is fixedf y any desirable method such as a tight push fit or by welding. Thismember is vcircular in shape and is provided with two loops` 71 whichreceive Iand pivotally support the trunnions 72 of the push bar 73 whichextends through a hole in the member 70 and comprises a flat stri formedwith a rounded lower end 74 an an oblong aperture 7 5V having a beveledlower edgel 76. The ,push bar is made sufficiently wide to open thedistance between the cams 25, 25l and when the plunger is depressed thelower round-l ed end follows one of the side faces until it reaches ashoulder 29 whereupon further depression of the plunger causes, rotationof the cams. During this operation the push bar assumes a position at anangle to the4 axis of the plunger and-in order to return the push bar toits normal coaxial position, irrespective of the position in which theswitch mechanism may be mounted, I have provided two flat leaf springs77, 77 fastened at diametrically opposite points to the under side ofthe supporting rlng 63 bymeans of the bolts 64 and the nuts 65 andhaving their free ends extending through the aperture 75 and normallpressing against the bevelled lower edge 6.

In this modification it will be noted that the supporting frame in whichthe, snap action is mounted is made of twol members 78, 78 each of whichhas a laterally extending end portion 79 with holes to receive thescrews 67 67 At the lower end each member 78 flares outwardly and isprovided on each side with a stop lug 80 which limits the movement ofthe pole piece.

When the plunger 49 is depressed, the terminal 54 of the resilientvspring wire contacts with the sloping side face 27 of the cam 25 whichhappens at that time to be presented.

lFurther depression of the plunger causes.

the terminal of the springwire to slide along the face 27 until itreaches the shoulder 29, whereupon the cams 25 are yrotated about theaxis ofthe shaft 24. This rotation of the cams causes Vthe lugs 39 totravel, in a path which crosses a vertical plane throughthe axis of theshaft 24. As soon as the lugs 39 have' crossed the line connecting theaperture 33 with the axis of thegshaft 24, the spring 42, which has beencompressed by this action, throws the. pole piece 32 with a quicl; snapaction to the other side of the switch where it is stopped by the lugs23 on thesupporting p frame yI5.

The compression ofthe spring 42 not only' i tends to hold the pole piecein the position to which it `has been thrown, but also holds the cams 25in their extreme position so that when the plunger is again depressedthe terminal of the spring wire will contact with the other face 27 andon further depression of the plunger cause a movement ot thc switch,which vis exactly similar but opposite in direction to'that justdescribed.

@ During its entire excursion of travel th terminal 54 is guarded fromany undue movement longitudinally of the shaft 24 by the flaringportions 22, of the supporting frame 15 which conform tothe path oftravel of the terminal 54.

When pressure is removed the plunger under the influence of the spring50 returns to the normal position and the portion 52 of l -plunger thepush bar 73 engages the faces 27 o`f the cams 25 which happen to bepresented at that time, and in thel manner just de-v scribed rotates thecams'and thereby causes a snap action to be imparted to the pole piece.Upon the return o the plunger -60 to its normal. position under thelvinfiuence of the spring 69, the at leaf springs 77 engage the -lowerbevelled edges of the aperture in the push bar and force it to assume aposition which is coaxial with the plunger irrespective of the positionin which the switch is mounted. It is also to be noted that the arcuateslots 30 in the cams 25 act as stops for the cam by reason of the endsengaging the pin 31 at each end of the travel of the cam. It will thusbe seen that both the cams and the pole pieces are provided with stopsand that both will be held in either of their extreme positions by theaction of the compression spring 42.

I claim:

1l In a device of the character described, an actuating mechanismcomprising a guide member, a plunger guided by said guide member and acoll of resilient material normally tending to force said plunger in onedirection and having an extension normally coaxial with said plunger.

2. In a device of the characteridescribed, i

an actuating mechanism comprising a guide member, a plunger guided bysaid guide member and a coll of resilient material nor-l mally tendingto force said plunger in one direction and having an extension normallycoaxial with said plunger, saidaextension being provided at the free endwth lateral projections.

3. In a swltch, the combination of an actuating mechanism comprising aplunger and an element tending automatically to remain coaxial with saidplunger, with a snap action frame, two spaced operating cams enclosed bysaid pole piece and supported from said frame, and a guide member and acompresision spring supported jointly by said cams and the pole piece.

4. In a switch, the combination of a Snap action mechanism comprising asupporting l frame, a polev piece pivot-ally supported by said frame,tWo spaced operating cams su ported from said frame and enclosed by saldpole piece and a guide member and a compression spring vsupportedjointly by said cams .and the pole piece With an actuating ,mechanismcomprising a plunger and an velement tending automatically to remalncoaxial with said plunger and adaptedto engage simultaneously theoperating cams.

Signed at Chicago, in the county of Cook, and State of lllinois, this28th day of JulyX Ag. D.'1922. f

ALBERT H. BATES.

